shownotes_20190407

Opening
  Opening Music
    Music is Say Anything by Manda and the Marbles
News
  The future of iPhone
    Well now that we are past the Spring Apple announcement we are free to move full force into iPhone rumors
    Ming Chi Kuo is of course in the fray
      Two-way wireless charging, or bilateral charging. Change any Qi based device with your iPhone.
      Along with the feature he expects Apple will increase battery capacity from between 10 to 25 percent depending on the model.
    Alleged images of an 2019 iPhone internal chassis posted on the Chinese social media site Weibo
      Show the "triangle" configuration of a triple lens camera system
      At least one rumor claims the new lens is a 5x telephoto
      The added camera intended to improve zoom, field of view and low light performance and offer improved AR capabilities
    It's pretty much a given that the 2019 iPhone will not come with 5G modem support
      The trouble is Apple's fight with Qualcomm and Intel's lack of a 5G modem
      Intel is expected to have 5G modems in 2020, but they may not be ready early enough to meet Apple's development cycle.
      Apple has been frantically trying to develop designs in house, but those most likely won't be ready until 2021
    DigiTimes says we're getting a larger, same, and, smaller display. Also thinner displays
      Apple will release three OLED iPhones in 2020 available in 5.42-, 6.06- and 6.67-inch sizes.
      The thinness will reportedly come because of new display technology that removes a film substrate
    We're also getting some rumors about the next Apple Watch
      Reuters is claiming that Japan Display will supply the OLED screens. This would be that companies first venture into the OLED display market.
      Apple looking at sensors to detect particles in the Air, basically "smell" sensors
        A patent application title, "Compact Particulate Material Sensor,"
        Could be used to report air quality, including allergens
        Detect hazardous gases like carbon monoxide
        Even detect low blood sugar from body odor
  Not everyone wants an Apple Store
    Apple has been having a rough time expanding Apple Stores in some countries.
    This week two countries have told Apple no to new stores.
    In Israel Apple was hoping to open a Tel Aviv location in the Azrieli Sarona Tower, but has been shutdown as mall owners rejected Apple's terms
      Apple likes to trade on the volume and affluence of their customer base, but this time it didn't work.
      According to reports Apple has tried negotiations with other malls and none seem to want to agree to their terms.
      Supposedly in those terms was covering "marketing and inventory costs".
    Apple also has halted development on their proposed Federation Square store in Melbourne Australia
      That project met resistance from the very beginning when Apple even redesigned their proposed store after opposition.
      Most recently the heritage authority blocked development by declining a demolition permit application.
      Apple wanted to demolish the Yarra Building to make way for their new store.
      Apple told the The Sydney Morning Herald that they would no longer pursue the Melbourne project
    These aren't the first two countries to push back on Apple either. Remember Apple had to walk away from a proposed Sweden store in Stockholm when their city council rejected Apple's proposals.
  iPad tear-downs prove revealing
    iPad mini 5
      On the outside visually exactly the same as the 4th gen except for the removal of the regulatory marks on the back
      Gets the 7-megapixel ƒ/2.2 FaceTime camera from the iPad Pro 10.5-inch, big jump from the 1.2-megapixel sensor in the iPad mini 4.
      3GB, up from 2GB and of course the A12 bionic chip.
      A different type of battery connector, but same size. 19.32 Watt-hour capacity
    iPad Air
      Identical in size and thickness to the 2017 10.5-inch iPad Pro, and just a tad lighter.
      Has a logic board layout similar to the 2017 iPad Pro as well with a dual cell battery
      Basically they note that for all intents and purposes it's basically a 10.5-inch iPad Pro
      Of course the big thing it lacks is the 120 Hz ProMotion display and the extra couple speakers
    I have not seen or heard of this myself, but MacRumors is reporting about a growing Apple Support thread where a growing number of 2018 iPad Pro owners are reporting screen issues
      Most reports are about screens that register touch gestures, stutter when scrolling, miss keystrokes, and have other similar problems.
      It's not clear what is causing the issue and some report having problems right out of the box.
      Still there are also reports of problems months later and even some reports of issues with 2017 and 2016 models.
      Reports seem to be somewhat random and Apple seems to be replacing units, at least in the case of the 2018 models.
  Apple updates the Clips app
    Yes, the Clips app?!!
    New posters, new title and caption options, updated stickers, a camcorder filter, and more.
    A new "camcorder" to add a retro video look to your clips.
    New 8-bit and 3D stickers you can add to your videos
    Can add songs from GarageBand and Apple added ClassKit support to allow students to deliver video assignments to teachers through the Schoolwork app.
  Another H1 set of earbuds
    Beats has unveiled the Beats Powerbeats Pro
    Taking a queue from AirPods and dumping the wire from the Powerbeats to become "totally wireless"
    Has its own, very large, Lightning-powered charging case and Apple's new H1 chip.
    Support for "Hey lady", (or "hey dude").
    Same seamless setup experience with your Apple devices.
    Where they trump AirPods is:
      Color options: black, ivory, navy, and moss
      Different ear tips for different sized ears and better noise isolation
      Rated for sweat and water resistance
      4 hours more battery life and more than 24 hours of combined playback with the charging case.
    Apple also did a $50 USD price drop on the HomePod.
      Now just $299 USD.
      Similar, if not equal, price drops internationally
    Apple Music has made it on tho Amazon Echo and Fire devices in the UK
      Rolling out in the next few weeks
    WJS says Apple Music paid subscribers now outnumber Spotify paid subscribers in the US.
      Apple had more than 28 million U.S. subscribers in February compared to Spotify's 26 million paid U.S. subscribers.
      They also seem to be growing subscribers at a slightly higher rate than Spotify globally. 2.4 to 2.8 percent vs 2 to 2.3 percent for Spotify.
    Netflix has dropped AirPlay functionality from its iOS app
      Originally they cited "technical limitations" as the reason for the features removal
      The issue, Apple is opening up AirPlay to other, non-Apple TV, devices and so Netflix doesn't know which AirPlay device you're streaming to.
      They say the quality of the experience could be compromised since they don't know what the destination device is.
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Feedback
  Is the iPhone "boring"?
    Play comment from Wil
    Does it need to be exciting? What would make it exciting?
    What could even be done to the software to make it more exciting?
      Animoji and Mimoji are NOT it.
    On iOS I think better file management and support for external storage are long overdue especially if we're going to have more people using iPads as notebook replacements.
    The iPhone is just the iPhone until we move beyond the form factor and I think we're 5-10 years away from that.
    We'll start to see a log of experimenting and early adoption of smartphone alternatives
      Like it or not screens are coming to glasses and contacts
      Voice interfaces will become more prevalent
      Air Pods are a verbal and audio interface now. That will be expanded
      AR is going to play a huge role
    Multiple wearables in a wireless "body" network? Batteries built into clothing? Dyamos in our shoes?
    I think iPhone becomes not boring when it's not an iPhone.
  What's the right iMac
    With the latest iMac updates I think the lines are getting a bit blurry if you're in the market for a new one.
    That was something Nacho was struggling with when he sent me this comment. Play question
    A few other items from his email
      Has a limited budget of up to 2500€ ($2,800 USD)
      Currently uses a 21-inch iMac and is happy with it
      Main uses are internet+music+pictures and Outlook, Excel (power user) and possibly Parallels.
      Would like it to last about 7 years.
    I think I'd stick with the 21.5-inch in your case. Yes with the 27-inch you could opt for the 9th gen Intel processor, but it's blow your budget.
      On the i5 vs i7, they are both 6-cores and the speed improvements aren't that big when it comes to CPUs (at lest not from 3.0GHz to 3.2GHz).
      Take the CPU money and put it to RAM or a better GPU
    For longevity, I think the focus should be on SSD storage and RAM. Personally I think 1TB is the bare minimum for storage and 16GB for RAM (more RAM the better)
    If any budget is left over you bump up the GPU.
    The nice thing on the display side is you can always attach a second monitor later
      The iMacs can drive their internal display plus:
      One 5120‑by‑2880 (5K) external display or Two 3840-by-2160 (4K UHD) external displays, or Two 4096‑by‑2304 (4K) external displays
    All this does bring up in my mind the issue that in 2019, to my, a 21-inch display is rather small. I think 24-inch should be the entry point.
  News+ App Usability
    Apple News+ seems to be at least getting some interest
      NYT claims Apple News+ had more than 200,000 people sign up during its first 48 hours of availability
      Of course it's free at the moment, so we'll see how many of us stick around.
    I was commenting on the fact that the Apple News+ section in the news app has some serious usability and discoverability issues
    Mainly because many asked me, "how do I add a magazine to My Magazines".
      You tap the "masthead" when you're reading an issue BTW and then "heart" the magazine.
    Jim sent in some of his thoughts on the usability and UX. Play comment
      10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design by the Neilson Norman Group - https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/
    I'll now also point out that for now "Apple News Enhanced" magazines on the Mac UI there is no way at all to get to the back catalog (no masthead)
      Maybe a Marzipan issue?
    Feels like exactly what Apple did was just find the easiest and quickest way to shoehorn the Texture service into Apple News
      The "hearts" make sense when you're favoriting your new sources, but seems stupid for magazines.
      There should simply be a "subscribe" option that adds them to your library, like podcasts.
      Then when you access your library you see the issues.
Closing
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